Apple introduces Business Essentials service for small and medium businesses

Apple today took a major step in delivering enterprise technology, unveiling a new service called Apple Business Basics – add another strong argument to help businesses deploy their products.

What is Apple Business Essentials?

The service combines a wide range of services for small and medium-sized companies in one Apple-friendly MDM management tool. It is aimed at businesses with up to 500 employees.

Apple Business Essentials is now in beta and is set to launch in spring 2022. It offers tools including iCloud+ for Work, AppleCare, 24/7 Apple support, and app and device management. as well as automatic setup using Collections and Smart Groups.

Apple says the service will initially be offered in the US at prices ranging from $2.99/month per user to $12.99/month per user depending on the number of devices and storage level. . (More info below.)

The company also introduced a new Apple Business Essentials app that employees can use to install apps assigned to work and request support.

Apple Business Essentials promises easy setup, integration, backup, security, support, repair, and updates, and 24/7 tech support on the call.

With the adoption of telework, Apple’s support component is flexible, which means that if you’re a remote worker from your home, you’ll be covered, too. And if a technical support visit is needed, an engineer will be sent to your home within four hours. In other words, an SMB can outsource at least some of its technical support provision using the service.

Additionally, Apple’s new service can be used with existing MDM solutions, although the company thinks its service will be more valuable to companies as the new mobility management option. The idea is that Apple Business Essentials makes it easy for you to manage your Apple devices and how to use them.

Why is this important?

Think back to 10 years since the launch of the first iPad, when Apple was still a name in the business world. There may be a few creative professionals using Macs (and executives using iPhones), but the company’s corporate position is limited.

That changed with the iPad, when C-class executives rush to choose this new tablet. As they did, attitudes about Bring Your Own Device policies have also changed, with employees empowered to use the technology they rely on at home at work.

[Also read: SAP VP Martin Lang touts Apple, M1 Macs and the mobile enterprise]

Today, when given a choice, most employees will choose an Apple product, with Macs experiencing specific renaissance period on the back of the amazing M series processors that Apple has made.

Discussing the importance of Apple Business Essentials, Carolina Milanesi, president and principal analyst at Creative Strategies, said:

“As an Apple follower for a long time, you know very well that Apple has been very shy about talking about how it addresses business needs. They have always wanted to be seen as providing technology to users rather than IT managers. Since the launch of the M1, I’ve argued that Apple’s biggest opportunity to increase its share of the PC market lies in the enterprise. The product has proven to be not only desirable but capable of meeting business needs, and the move from a BYOD or Back door approach to IT implemented will allow Apple to grow market share faster. I think this is why this announcement is timely and meaningful.”

The move reflects the extent to which Apple has placed a place in the business and demonstrates the company’s drive to rapidly expand in this area.

Milanesi also said the move could challenge others already in the space, but said, “there is still room in the market if companies want to differentiate themselves by supporting Mac and Windows.”

The analyst also noted that PC-centric companies like Dell, Lenovo, or HP that are struggling to provide support to business customers can face challenges, as they “always struggle to support Mac in a timely manner.” similarly.”

Apple’s message

In a statement introducing the new service, Apple’s vice president of corporate marketing and education, Susan Prescott, said:

“Small businesses are at the core of our economy, and we’re proud that Apple products play a role in helping these companies thrive.

“Apple Business Essentials is designed to help streamline every step of employee device management in a small business — from setup, onboarding, and upgrades, to quick service access and priority support, all while keeping data backed up and secure, so companies can focus on running their business. ”

What does the company get?

With everything managed in one dashboard, SMBs get:

• Collection;
• Device and user management;
• iCloud for work repositories;
• AppleCare+ for Business Essentials (optional).

Dashboard provides an instant view of monthly expenses and can manage individual devices – so the Apple TV in the conference room can also be maintained.

Collection?

Apple has been thinking about what happens when you introduce a new employee to your organization. The Collections feature allows IT to configure settings and apps for individual users, groups, or devices. For example, you may want to install a specific application on all hardware used by the accounting team. Collections let you define roles, assign permissions, and more. It also gives IT an easy-to-read account of the current application licensing status, so administrators can see when they may need to revoke or obtain new licenses for corporate teams.

What user and device management features are included?

Apple Business Essentials also automates services and permissions, and can configure employees’ personal devices to carry work-related data safely, securely, and – above all, privately. private. It does this through support for two Apple IDs on the device – the managed ID and the employee’s own ID. This is generated during user registration, when a cryptographic separation for business data is introduced. This helps ensure employee data remains private, while corporate data remains secure.

Apple

In use, it means that when employees log into their personally or company-owned devices with their work credentials, Collections automatically pushes settings like profiles VPN and Wi-Fi password. It will also install the Apple Business Essentials app, through which employees can download and install business-critical applications like Cisco Webex or the recently enhanced Microsoft Word.

Apple also says the service empowers IT managers to enforce important security settings like FileVault for full-disk encryption on Macs and Activation Lock to protect devices that could be lost or hacked. steal.

What is iCloud for work?

I spread the word about the need to introduce Apple iCloud for Business a few weeks ago. The company has now done just that.

Apple Business Essentials provides a work-specific iCloud account that works like any other iCloud implementation. Business data in iCloud is automatically stored and backed up, making it easy to move between devices or upgrade to a new device – and you can choose how much data to give your employees.

Employees continue to retain separate access to their own iCloud data, allowing separation between personal and work-related use.

AppleCare + for Business Essentials

We still don’t know how much the feature will cost, but Apple is also promising an additional option in the form of AppleCare+ for Business Essentials. Companies that subscribe to this service will be able to offer staff 24/7 phone support, training for both IT admins and employees, and up to two device repairs included. per pack per year.

(The cool thing about the latter is that these can be applied on any user/device that falls under Apple’s Business Plan, so the cumulative effect is that even employees are more prone to accidents.) should be supported.)

Employees can initiate repairs from within the app, and Apple-trained technicians will be on site within 4 hours to get the device back up and running. If your employees are far away, the technician will visit where they are.

How is it to use?

I’m only really learning about Apple Business Essentials at this stage, but it’s clearly an Apple product. That means a clean column-based user interface, a clean design that eliminates the unnecessary, and an intuitive use of icons and categories to help you find what you’re looking for. need.

For example, collections are easy to create, populate, and distribute, while more granular tasks, such as users, user groups, or device management are also easy to access and discover.

But for many people, the Settings section will be of specific use.

Apple seems to have put a lot of thought into these, bundling standards like managing password policies and Wi-Fi settings with increasingly important controls, such as Power Saving Settings. .

While it may not be obvious at first why it is important to ensure all equipment follows the company’s energy consumption policy, if you stop to consider the energy costs of operating the system for up to 500 employees, the advantage of such controls becomes much more obvious. And they should probably be considered as vitally important as we are fall into the climate crisis.

How much it costs?

Apple Business Essentials is available as a free beta starting today in the US.

When it emerged from beta, Apple said the service would cost $2.99 ​​per user/month to handle a single device with 50GB of storage, expandable up to $12.99/person usage/month for up to three devices per user and up to 2TB of storage.

Those prices don’t include the cost of AppleCare+ for Business Essentials, and the company won’t charge beta users. But it doesn’t want anyone to be charged when the service launches.

How do you join the beta program?

Full service will be available in spring 2022. Coming join beta registration here.

Follow me on Twitter, or join me in AppleHolic’s Bar & Grill and Discuss Apple group on MeWe.